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Glad to hear I'm not the only one that can screw things up several times while making gear.... I will not be able to make it Saturday due to Christmas party but hope you get out and enjoy yourself.... I'm looking at making a pulk myself in the next few weeks so I can drag everything including the kitchen sink into the woods in winter... Good for body disposal too....

not a bad trip. got to try out the TQ, dialed in the UQ a little more. tried out the new pulk and the new winter dream DIY. ground was frozen which didn't allow the use of spikes and probably the only thing i dislike about winter camping and not enough snow to do a deadman so i had to use logs which didn't allow for one side of the tie outs.
the only thing that wasn't that great was as i was entering the tarp after readjustment i stepped on the tie out for the door and tore a portion - oh well, easy repair i guess.
however, the 28oz 650 down TQ i just got done making is super warm and using a half full water bottle with heated water was absolutely wonderful all the way till 2:30am.

probably look at doing MRT, maybe walk in at jordyn river, maybe go up to taquamenum and do some car camping and then do the 6 mile shoe trip over to the brewery, have some drinks and then get a ride back to the sites, it's a good trip. there is also a winter sledge trip going on in lake superior state forest in january from 17th until 22 which i'm looking at doing but only 2 or 3 nights. that area can be pretty rough with temps/winds.

all in all pinckney isn't that bad of a place to go. the hike in was pretty easy, took about 3 hrs on the way in not to break a sweat but i did it 1.5hrs on the way out with a good sweat. you can easily drop off at any of road crossing if you're looking to shorten the hike and then have one person do the complete walk in.
we did all get tickets for not having the back country permitt but there wasn't any forms to fill out so we assumed they would have a post at the campsite to self registar. the park only had vehicle registration at the main entrance. got a phone call from the ranger station late last night, chatted for a while, explained the group and all issues are closed.
if you're looking for a relatively close over night trip i'd recommend going. they have a nice out house with trash bin and TP, little cold on the bum, no smells, plenty of down wood but after chatting with the ranger i guess they passed a law saying you were not allow to remove down wood now - implemented 3 yrs ago but most places are not enforcing it.
the rangers all seem pretty cool, i bike out there a lot in the summer so i know the trail pretty well, some may find it hilly for Mi, but from what i gathered as long as you give an enter/exit time, party count and stay at the campsite they really don't care when you coming in, leave or how you choose to walk in. oh, and i gave a trip report on down trees, trail condition which saved them a trip out there for looking.

need to have a vehicle sticker and then you need a backcountry permit which is $12 per site for total of 4 people. unless you go stealth but then you risk fines.
they did not have the correct forms on the self registar so i put a ? on my vehicle registration, the called me, we chatted, really cool about it and I'll just mail it in without any issues. but make sure you note 'blind lake' when choosing a site b/c that's the only one open in the winter.

Looks like you survived the night... Tarp looks great, did you get silnylon or DIY waterproof it... I wish we got more snow in this area of the state, I would love to get out for some overnight quick trips but don't like dealing with the frozen ground. I have a full set of snow stakes from tent days but need a good 12-16" of snow for them to really grab... Thought about making a set of 24" snow flutes that could be buried under the snow but again need some snow depth to have them work well.... UMMMM....

i ordered 15yds of the camo DWR that BWDD had a while back and was going to use most of it to make a hammock but being coated it would have probably made me sweat. so i decided to use it for this tarp. i did a leak test with a cup of water for most of one evening and nothing leaked so i figured i'd be safe.
i normally use a deadman with a stick or something under the snow for tie out anchors but it was loose powder at the sit.
i think we're looking at maybe the 3rd weekend in january for a trip to MRT or Taquamenon falls. it's fun to see the different ice formations for year to year and the snowshoe hike to the brewery/drinks is a nice reward. might take a friday off and leave early, it would be car camping and if the hammocks get too cold there will be a 2.5 and 4.5 person tents there.